Dinner Date
by Majorrogue
Summary: A short fic about how I thought Gail and Holly's dinner might have gone (after ep 510)
1. Dinner Date part 1

Gail stood in front of Holly's front door ready to knock. She was far more nervous than she thought she'd be, after all this is what she wanted, it's why she had bared her soul to Holly a few weeks ago, okay maybe not bared her soul but she had certainly admitted some things to Holly that she hadn't even done with Nick and she was going to marry him, all Holly had done was say goodnight and walk away.

She took a deep breath, looked down at herself to make sure she looked okay and knocked on the door.

After a couple of seconds Holly opened the door, she had her hair pulled back and her glasses on top of her head. She greeted Gail with a wide smile

"Hey"

"Hey" Gail replied

Holly laughed a little "hey, come in" she said moving so Gail could walk passed her. she knew lots of people said 'hey' to each other, but her and Gail saying it to each other all the time and now them saying it like nothing had changed just made her happy.

As they walked into the kitchen Gail raised a box she was holding in her hand "You said you had wine so I bought some cupcakes" she shrugged and placed them on the counter

"Cupcakes?" Holly looks surprised, she didn't think cupcakes would be Gail's style. She started to open the box

"Yeah, I saw them in a bakery when I was on patrol the other day..." Gail said somewhat absently as she walked away from the kitchen to where the dining table was laid out for two.

"Erm..." Holly looked at Gail quizzically. Gail turned towards her

"Oh yeah, that one's mine" she said before Holly could even say anything

Holly smiled as she looked back at one of the cakes in the box that had at least four finger scoops taken out of the icing. "Couldn't wait huh?" Holly folded the lid back on the box and put it out of the way as Gail shrugged

"Do you want to take your coat off?" Holly asked as she passed Gail to put a huge bowl of salad on the table

Gail looked down, she really must be nervous. "Sure" she said as she took it off and went to hang it up by the front door

"You okay? You seem a little distracted, was it a tough day?" Holly asked

"No not really, normal day…." Gail said walking back to the table. She couldn't take her mind off how this dinner could go in a number of different directions.

"You remembered that I'm not a woodland animal, right?" Gail said pointing at the salad

Holly smiled again and laughed, she really wasn't over her ex. "I know, that's why I did a bit of experimenting. Sit" she gestured to the table.

Gail gave her a sceptical look but sat anyway "The words food and experimenting should not be in the same sentence" she said as she watched Holly place a large bowl of... Something on the table. Gail looked at it for a while desperately trying to figure out what it was "okay I give up, what is that meant to be?"

Holly look slightly offended as she sat opposite Gail "It's jambalaya"

"Did you drop it?"

Holly tilted her head at Gail "It's meant to look like that"

"Really?"

"Just eat it" Holly said spooning some onto Gail's plate, she did the same with her own plate and added some salad too.

Gail took a bite and made a face that holly took to mean it was good, she smiled and took a bite herself "So, I don't know whether we should talk now or later or..?"

Gail looked up from her food, swallowed and set her fork down, she took a few seconds and then said "The stuff that happened in The Penny ..." Gail started "That... There's" she took a breath "... I don't know if you heard about an incident a month or so ago ... There was a woman who got shot in her laundry room..."

"Yeah I did hear about it, I heard you found her"

"I did..." Gail looked down at her food and took a deep breath "I also found her daughter... Sophie"

Holly nodded and watched Gail, she wasn't sure why she was telling her this

"Since her mother died, I've been spending time with her... Sophie... And she's a great kid y'know, a lot of fun, quite cheeky" Gail smiled at the thought "she doesn't have any family who can take care of her..."

"That's terrible, the poor girl"

Gail nodded with a sad smile "I didn't think I was going to see you again Holly, not after I... Said all that stuff at the station and you just... You just walked away..."

"Gail I.."

"I've been making plans" Gail interrupted

"Plans?" Holly frowned

"To ... adopt Sophie" Gail was gripping her hands under the table waiting for what she had just told Holly to sink in.

"Adopt... " Holly said quietly almost to herself "Gail...?" She frowned

"Look, I know this could ... This could be the breaker, that's why the other stuff doesn't really matter, the penny stuff..."

"Gail that is a big ... BIG step..."

Gail hummed her agreement as she bit down on her bottom lip. She could see the wheels turning in Holly's mind as they sat in silence for quite a while.

Holly shook her head to herself and took a sip of her wine, she looked at Gail and smiled a little then looked at her food still thinking

"Soooo, is this it?" Gail asked not knowing what Holly must be thinking. She didn't want this to end, she didn't want to have to try and forget about Holly again, but she wouldn't be budged on the adoption

Holly shook her head "I don't know Gail, this ... Isn't something ..." She carried on shaking her head "The long haired Officer Peck I met in the woods would never have even thought about adopting a child..."

"I know, but I've changed since then... You've changed me..."

Holly met Gail's eyes and could see the sincerity in them.

"I can see that..." Holly reached her hand across the table towards Gail "But honey, do you really think this is a good idea? How much experience do you have with children?"

"As much as anyone" Gail answered defensively "I used to baby sit when I was younger and..."

"Babysit?" Holly shook her head "Gail that's like saying you want to join law enforcement because you used to play cops and robbers as a child. Your job is not 9 to 5, you have shifts and... And it's dangerous"

"You think I don't know that? Do you think I haven't thought about that? It's just a job Holly, if the adoption people don't like it then I can get a transfer or ... get another job" Gail stood up "look thanks for the food, but I didn't come here for advise..." She started to walk away. Holly quickly stood and grabbed Gail's arm

"Gail wait... You would be willing to leave the police force?"

"Yeah" Gail shrugged "it's just a job"

"It's your family's legacy..." Holly realised just how serious Gail must be if she was willing to break the Peck family tradition for this child...

Gail shrugged again "It's that or a kids future, Sophie deserves more than being passed around foster homes for the next 10 years, she's been through enough already and if I can help her and give her a better chance ..." Gail moved to leave again

"Don't go" Holly smiled "at least stay for cake"

Gail had forgotten about the cakes she'd bought "Okay"

Holly moved into the kitchen, got out two plates and placed two of the cupcakes on them. She walked past Gail to the sofa, placed Gail's cake on the coffee table in front of it and sat at one end. She looked up at Gail expectantly and smiled. Gail found it quite difficult to resist Holly normally, but Holly and a cake meant she could do nothing but follow her and sit down.


	2. Dinner Date part 2

"So, yesterday when you said you had a 'thing' was that….?" Holly sort of asked

"That was a meeting with the adoption people and Sophie" Gail answered while trying to figure out how to attack the cupcake in her hand.

"Oh" Holly watched her turn the cake around in her hand as she peeled the paper off and start eating the bottom of the cake. She was quite relieved, she'd thought Gail had a date last night, but now that she knew the truth she had a completely different thing to worry about. Having children was not something that had ever really crossed Holly's mind, not because she didn't like them, but because her career had always been her priority.

They sat in silence eating cake and Holly thought about what Gail had just told her, she couldn't help but smile as Gail finished eating the bottom of the cake only leaving a thin layer of cake topped with a mass of icing. To Holly's surprise Gail only took two bites to demolish the icing.

"That was a nice cupcake, huh?" Holly said as she placed her plate on the coffee table in front of where they were sitting

Gail hummed her agreement as she sucked some icing off her fingers "hmmm, the icing's the best bit though, the rest always seems bland"

"You aren't a fan of cupcakes? Why am I not surprised" Holly laughed

"They're too … frilly for me" Gail said waving her fingers "Give me a doughnut any day"

Holly laughed again "Really? I didn't take you for a stereotype"

Gail frowned "What? Liking doughnuts is not a stereotype"

"Of a cop? Really?" Holly asked raising her eyebrows

"Oh… Yeah….. Well I like cookies too…." Gail shook her head and laughed, why she'd forgotten about cops and doughnuts she didn't know, obviously her mind was elsewhere.

Holly got up and took the empty plates to the sink and stood looking out of the window for a moment. Gail watched her wondering what she was looking at, but before she had an opportunity to ask, Holly turned around and leaned against the counter

"Well, tonight was all about talking so…" Holly started

"Hey, that stuff at the Penny…." Gail interrupted standing up and slowly walking over to Holly she wanted to try to explain "I know I shouldn't have just walked out and I know that I should have answered your calls… like I said I'm a brat, it's just …. I always felt…. Feel that I can be myself with you and not feel judged, not feel like I have to change who I am to be with you, that's why when you didn't defend me with Lisa..."

Holly shook her head "Lisa is the most judgmental person I know, you heard her talking about my job that night and that's constant with her, I got tired of explaining myself to her years ago, that's why I didn't say anything, it's none of her business, but that doesn't mean I agreed with what she said, if I had a problem with cops, why would I work with them all day every day? Why would I have spent that entire day with you in my office? And why would I have gone on dates with you: a known cop?" Holly smiled "But…. That's not what I wanted to talk to you about"

Gail raised her eyebrows in surprise "Oh, okay…"

Holly took a breath "I've accepted a new job…"

"You got a new job?" Gail interrupted smiling

"In San Francisco…." Holly finished with a slight wince

There was silence, Gail pushed her lips together and slightly nodded her head, she looked at Holly and with a small and angry smile turned and walked towards the door.

Holly walked quickly through the kitchen to cut Gail off before she could reach the coat stand "Gail?...GAIL... Stop. Don't run out again"

Gail stopped "why not?"

Holly looked at her questioningly "Because we have to talk about this"

"What is there to talk about? You've already made your decision, you've accepted the job..." Gail stepped forward to reach for her coat.

Holly took her arm "Gail, don't be like this... I was.."

"Don't be like what, Holly? Annoyed? ... What was all this about, huh?" Gail asked waving her arm at the dinner table "What was yesterday at the station about if you knew you were leaving? Did you just want to get my hopes up?"

"No of course not, that's not what this was…." Holly said

"Then what?" Gail said angrily

"I was going to ask you to come with me…" Holly stated

Gail laughed and shook her head "How could I possibly come with you? I have a job here and ... Sophie..."

"I didn't know about Sophie until 20 minutes ago Gail" Holly shook her head and stepped away in frustration, she let out an annoyed breath "Leave if you want to Gail and we can forget about us, or you could stay and we can talk about this like adults"

Holly let go of her arm, walked away and sat on the sofa, Gail watched her and took a step closer. She really wasn't expecting the evening to end like this, she'd thought Holly might be put off by her trying to adopt Sophie, but she never thought Holly would be relatively okay with her adopting but be moving away, FAR away instead. Why was it the people she cared about always left? It's what Nick had done, twice, and now Holly. At least Holly had warned her in advance though, but what could she possibly do to make her stay?

She walked closer to the sofa slowly, trying to think of something, anything that might make Holly stay, but she was coming up empty. As she got to the opposite end of the sofa from where Holly was sitting she stopped, Holly looked up at her. Gail hadn't seen Holly angry like this before. It was a little scary.

Gail opened her mouth to say something but didn't, she started to shift uncomfortably and looked away from Holly, she put her hands on her hips and the straight away put them down, she looked at Holly who was giving her a confused look.

"Are you going to sit down or are you just going to stand there and fidget?" Holly asked

Gail pressed her lips together and shook her head. Holly rolled her eyes and slumped back in her seat with a huff.

"Look Gail, I felt the same as you, I didn't think I was going to see you again. I didn't think you wanted anything to do with me again. I applied for and accepted the job before you came to see me with that thumb, and then when you asked me for drinks and…. I knew we couldn't be just friends and I knew I wouldn't be able to get over you if I kept seeing you at work…" Holly shook her head and opened her mouth to speak again but was interrupted

"Please don't go" Gail said quietly

Holly looked up surprised, that wasn't the kind of thing Gail said, she was a little shocked

"I don't want…." _To lose you again_ "…you to go" Gail said still standing at the end of the sofa. She wasn't sure where that had come from. She didn't really do honest truth, but there it was and she couldn't take it back.

"Gail…." Holly got up and stood in front of Gail and cupped her face in her hands. Gail looked her straight in the eye.

"Please" Gail all but whispered.

Holly leaned forward and kissed Gail softly.


End file.
